Is this "nero ordering" or durng the rain of Nero? I assume "imperante" is a particle from ans? I also don't understand "ortum" here, is it missing esse?"Nero ordered a terrible fire to begin from the circus maximus and burn throughout the great city of the father land" ?

This is also insanely confusing for me. "Nero, when he gazed upon the city burning (had been burnt?)" Is straight forward, but the rest? Beautifully is said to the pretty flames into the domestic scene and the fall of troy burnt? pulchritudine seems to be an adverb, but what the rest of the words doing here?

This has me amazingly stumped...You know the first book was so easy, but 20 pages into the second and it's getting difficult.